William Paget, 4th Baron Paget of Beaudesert (1572 – 29 August 1629) was an English peer and colonist born in Beaudesert House, Staffordshire, England to Thomas Paget, 3rd Baron Paget and Nazareth Newton. His grandfather was William Paget, 1st Baron Paget (1506-1563).
William's father and his uncle, Charles Paget were both devout Catholics, and would not conform to the Protestant religion of Queen Elizabeth I. Thomas Paget fled to Paris on the uncovering of the Throckmorton Plot in November 1583, joining his brother who had been in exile there since 1581. The failed conspiracy's plan was for an invasion of England by French forces under the command of Henry, Duke of Guise, financed by Philip II of Spain. English Catholics would then rise up and depose Elizabeth, placing Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots on the English throne. Europe was ablaze with conflicts between Catholics and Protestants. England's old enemy, France, was in the midst of its Religious Wars, which saw the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in the year in which William was born. In 1587 Thomas Paget was attainted of treason by act of parliament while in exile, resulting in him being stripped of his title and lands. He died in Brussels in 1590.[1]